The freeness of Shi-Catalan arrangements (Q648976)

Let \(W\) be a finite Weyl group and \({\mathcal A}\) be the corresponding Weyl arrangement. For two multiplicities \({\mathbf a}\) and \({\mathbf b}\), a deformation \({\mathcal A}^{[-{\mathbf a}, {\mathbf b}]}\) of \({\mathcal A}\) is an affine arrangement which is obtained by adding to each hyperplane \(H \in{\mathcal A}\) several parallel translations of \(H\) by the positive root (and its integer multiples) perpendicular to \(H\). A deformation is \(W\)-equivariant if the number of parallel hyperplanes of each hyperplane \(H\in {\mathcal A}\) depends only on the \(W\)-orbit of \(H\). The authors prove that the conings of the \(W\)-equivariant deformations are free arrangements under a Shi-Catalan condition and give a formula for the number of chambers. This generalizes Yoshinaga's theorem conjectured by Edelman-Reiner [\textit{M. Yoshinaga}, Invent. Math. 157, No. 2, 449--454 (2004; Zbl 1113.52039)]. The following theorem is the main result of this article: Theorem. If \({\mathcal A}^{[-{\mathbf a}, {\mathbf b}]}\) is a Shi-Catalan arrangement, then its coning \({\mathbf c}({\mathcal A}^{[-{\mathbf a}, {\mathbf b}]})\) is free.